The question of how to improve your singing voice is kind of like asking how to improve your cooking skills, or your writing ability, or your mountain climbing prowess.

The answer is ALWAYS going to be practice, practice, and more practice.

I’m pretty sure you already knew that though, so I’m guessing that what you really want to know is whether or not there’s anything else you can do to improve your singing voice aside from singing scales, drilling away at vocal exercises, and mastering new songs at every opportunity.

The answer is yes. There are definitely things you can do to improve your voice that don’t involve singing practice.

1. Memorise Your Song Lyrics and Melodies

When you’re reading notes and/or lyrics off sheet music, a big chunk of your brain is focused on the task of reading.

This means that big chunk of your brain is not focused on actual singing. You’d be lucky to be singing at even half your capacity.

That’s fine when you’re first learning a new piece of music, but within a couple of weeks you need to shed that sheet music and focus on your singing. Get your eyes off the page and start really singing those words, not just reading them.

It is almost impossible to successfully interpret a song without knowing it off by heart. If you’re reading, you’re not totally focused on your vocal performance. You’ll struggle to connect with the meaning of what you’re singing.

And if you’ve only half learned a song and you’re struggling to remember the next line, then you won’t be focusing on preparing your attack and giving that line your best shot.

Memorise your song lyrics and the melodies. I always suggest reading over the lyrics of the song you’re learning a couple of times every night before you go to bed, then try to recite them without reading when you wake up in the morning. Lyrics have a funny way of gelling overnight.

2. Practice Breathing Exercises

Building up your lung capacity is important for singers who want to last through long phrases without running out of breath and having to top up in the middle of a line.

But you don’t have to be vocalising to do breathing exercises. You can do them anywhere without making a sound (elevator, anyone?).

Yoga classes are a great way to learn more about control of the breath, but there are also many simple breathing exercises you can practice at home.

One of the most basic breathing exercises I recommend for building up your lung capacity is this:

NOTE: If you feel at all light headed when doing this exercise, please stop and rest. If you are not used to breathing deeply this way, you may be prone to hyperventilating.

Place your hands on your waist

Move your hands straight up your body until they are sitting on the bottom of your rib cage – you should be able to feel your lower front ribs under your index fingers, and your lower back ribs against your thumbs

Exhale the air in your lungs until you need to take a breath

Inhale slowly, focusing on expanding the thoracic area where your hands are sitting – you should feel your hands moving outwards as the ribs expand and your intercostal muscles are stretched

When you cannot take in any more air, slowly begin to exhale. Make the exhale last as long as possible, letting out as little air as possible as you go.

Repeat up to 5 times. Always stop if you begin to feel faint.

Watch out that you do not lift your shoulders when inhaling – it’s a sign of upper respiratory breathing, and you need to be filling up the widest space at the bottom of your lungs, not the narrower peaks at the top.

3. Do Regular Physical Exercise

If you’ve never exerted yourself by doing some physical exercise for half an hour or so before you start singing, you really should try it. You’re likely to be surprised at how much more vital your vocals sound. There’s something about oxygenating the blood and getting your body moving with exercise that has a quite amazing effect on the voice.

I actually know of several singers who go for a brisk walk before performances for this reason.

Aside from the vocal and energetic boost you get in this situation, your general physical fitness does affect your vocal abilities. Exercising regularly and keeping your body – which is literally your instrument – in a healthy condition, will help you to improve your singing. You’ll have more stamina and more energy, which are likely to contribute to better vocal control and a stronger mindset.

4. Keep Hydrated

Drink water. Lots of water. Ideally a couple of litres per day (tea and coffee don’t count). You will sing better if you’re hydrated.

Your vocal cords need lubrication to work optimally. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty, because by then you’re already dehydrated. A quick swig of water before you go on stage won’t help if you haven’t been drinking throughout the day.

Picture your vocal folds drying out like parchment paper, and that’s usually a good enough incentive to reach for the water bottle.

5. Avoid Alcohol and Smoking

While the water bottle is a yes, beer and wine bottles are a no (and spirits are a no-no-no!).

I wrote about this in a post on vocal health, but I’m going to quote myself here because it was pretty good advice:

Alcohol dries and irritates the vocal cords, making them less pliable when singing. To counteract this effect, many singers push harder to achieve a better sound. This can further damage the voice and cause burst blood vessels and polyps on the cords.

Smoking forms plaque on the vocal cords and dries them out, making the voice sound rougher. Plaque cannot be removed by surgery, and the more you smoke, the more it builds up.

Avoiding both alcohol and smoking (including inhaling second-hand smoke from others near you) will help you to sing better. The sooner you put them aside, the sooner your vocal cords will thank you.

Bonus! Just thought of another one!

6. Sleep

As a new mum, it occurred to me that sleep is definitely a deal breaker. If you’ve not had a decent night’s sleep, you’ll struggle to get it together vocally. If you want to improve your singing voice without actually singing, getting at least 8 hours kip in a row will make a big difference to your energy levels and therefore your vocal abilities.

And if you don’t have any kids, enjoy your extended sleep time. I’m jealous.

Summary

To sum up, all of the above factors take much less time to implement than the hours you should be dedicating to singing practice, yet they will help you to improve your singing voice significantly.

Have a go at putting them into practice and please, as always, let me know how you go by providing feedback or commenting below. Happy Singing!

Most of us don’t give too much thought to the act of breathing. It’s something we take for granted, something our bodies just go ahead and do, every minute of every day. We only tend to pay attention to it when we consciously want to change our breathing patterns for a particular purpose – for example, athletes breathe in ways that help them to get the most oxygen to their muscles, women in labour breathe to help them manage pain, and people who suffer from anxiety attacks employ special breathing techniques to help them feel calmer. The way we breathe can have a profound effect on our bodies, and our health.

Singing well requires you to “breathe from your diaphragm”. Although most people have heard of diaphragmatic breathing, not many really understand what it is, and even fewer know how to use it to successfully improve their singing voice. I am going to explain firstly where the diaphragm is, then how it acts when we breathe, and finally how best to breathe when singing. I will also talk you through a simple diaphragmatic breathing exercise.

What is your diaphragm and how does it work?

The diaphragm is a muscle that lays horizontally across the middle of your body. To simplify things it helps to think of it as a tent that points upwards in the middle (towards your sternum or breast-bone), but whose base is attached to the left and right sides of the bottom of your rib cage.

When you take a deep breath, your rib cage expands outwards and your lungs (which sit inside your rib cage) also expand as they fill with air. The diaphgragm muscle contracts as it is pushed downwards and flattened, to make room for the expanded lungs which are now full of air. When you exhale, air rushes back out of the lungs, and the diaphragm muscle relaxes and moves upwards in the middle again, because it has room without all that extra air in the lungs.

Diaphragmatic breathing versus upper chest breathing

It sounds like all this should happen quite naturally, without us having to consciously think about it, but many people these days do not breathe this way unless they are asleep and nature takes over. Many people employ what is known as “shallow breathing”, or “upper chest breathing”. That means that when they inhale, they do not fill up their lungs right to the bottom, instead they only take a shallow breath that fills just the top part of the lungs, which is the narrowest part. It is impossible to obtain enough air to sing well if you use upper chest breathing.

Diaphragmatic breathing exercise

To practice diaphragmatic breathing, follow these simple steps:

Place your hands on your hips, and then move both hands up slightly until you can feel the bottom of your ribs on both sides.

Exhale completely.

Slowly take a deep breath and imagine that you are filling up with air right to the very bottom of your lungs – almost all the way down to your belly button. You should feel your hands being moved outwards as the base of your rib cage expands and pushes outwards (note: your shoulders should not move, and the top half of your chest should not lift as you inhale – all the expansion should be around the lower half of the rib cage).

Hold the breath for three seconds.

Exhale as slowly and evenly as possible.

Practice this exercise three times in a row, and repeat it throughout the day. Over time, you should build up to holding your breath for longer, adding perhaps a second each day. Remember not to hold your breath for too long if you feel light-headed (especially in warmer weather).

Using diaphragmatic breathing when singing

Whenever you start to sing a phrase, you should prepare by taking a full breath as described above, using diaphragmatic breathing. As you sing, make an effort not to expel air and exhale too quickly – you will only last through longer phrases if you conserve air and release it slowly. This takes practice, but it’s worth the significant improvements to your singing voice. Correct breathing technique may be just one aspect of a successful singing program, but it’s the foundation for almost everything else you can do to sing better.